Interleukin-32θ inhibits tumor-promoting effects of macrophage-secreted CCL18 in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Tumor-associated macrophages can promote breast cancer metastasis by secreting cytokines and growth factors. Interleukin (IL)-32θ, a newly identified IL-32 isoform, was previously shown to down-regulate various proinflammatory factors of macrophages. Here, we report the presence of IL-32θ in breast cancer tissues and evaluate its effects on macrophage-regulated breast cancer metastasis. METHODS: RT-qPCR was used to analyze the mRNA expression of IL-32θ, Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18) in breast cancer tissues. In vitro cell-based experiments using IL-32θ-expressing MDA-MB-231 cells were conducted to examine the effects of IL-32θ on metastasis and its molecular signaling. In vivo xenograft, immunohistochemistry, and optical imaging models were generated to support in vitro and clinical findings. RESULTS: The clinical data displayed opposite expression patterns of CCL18 and IL-32θ mRNA in macrophage-infiltrated breast tumor tissues compared with those in the other tissues tested. In MDA-MB-231 cells, IL-32θ overexpression attenuated migration, invasion, tumor-promoting factors, and increased epithelial markers levels upon treatment with conditioned media from THP-1-derived macrophages. Additionally, IL-32θ expression in a xenograft model led to a remarkable decrease in tumor size and macrophage-stimulated tumor promotion. This inhibition was mediated through a direct interaction with protein kinase C-δ (PKCδ), subsequently eliminating the downstream factors STAT3 and NF-κB. Blocking CCL18 during co-culture of macrophages and breast cancer cells reduced the levels of breast cancer progression-related factors and PKCδ downstream signaling suggesting CCL18 as the main macrophage-secreted factors triggering the signaling pathway inhibited by IL-32θ. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate a novel role of IL-32θ as an intracellular modulator to suppress macrophage-promoted breast cancer progression by targeting CCL18-dependent signaling. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12964-019-0374-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.